Moleculin Biotech, Inc. is preclinical and clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development of game-changing anti-cancer drug candidates, many of which are based on discoveries made at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Each of our projects represents a breakthrough discovery and a highly disruptive technology.

Management Team

Walter V. Klemp

Founder, President, Chairman, CEO, and Business Advisory Board Member

Walter Klemp has been our Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO since 2007. Mr. Klemp has 29 years of experience in start-up and high-growth companies, the past nine of which have been spent developing FDA-approved dermatology therapy devices and topical compounds.

Mr. Klemp was also President and CEO of Zeno Corporation from 2004 to 2010, where he successfully developed and marketed a number of dermatology devices and drugs from concept through FDA approval.

Previously, Mr. Klemp served as Founder, CEO and Chairman of Drypers Corporation, a publicly traded multinational consumer products company, from 1987 to 2000. At Drypers, Mr. Klemp developed growth strategies, orchestrated mergers and acquisitions, and grew the company from start-up to $400 million in annualized sales and to a #1 ranking on the INC 500. Notably, he has overseen nearly $750 million in public and private financings throughout his career.

Donald Picker, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

Donald Picker, PhD, joined the Moleculin team in 2009 with over 35 years of drug development experience. At Johnson Matthey, Dr. Picker was responsible for the development of Carboplatin, one of the world’s leading cancer drugs, acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb and with annual sales of over $500 million. He also oversaw the development of Satraplatin and Picoplatin, third-generation platinum drugs currently in late-stage clinical development.

Dr. Picker has significant experience in dermatological pharmaceutical discovery and development as well, having led projects for topical therapies in psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and acne.

Robert Shepard, MD, FACP

Chief Medical Officer - Hematology

Dr. Robert Shepard has extensive research credentials in hematology and oncology and is board certified in oncology, hematology and internal medicine. He has a wide array of experience in translational medicine and clinical research and has been actively involved in oncology research since 1970, responsible for the complete clinical development of several drugs and immune therapies for biopharmaceutical companies, including serving as the consulting Chief Medical Officer for six companies. Dr. Shepard is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Harvard University in biochemical sciences and molecular biophysics and studied in the Harvard-M.I.T. Health Sciences program. He held fellowships in hematology and oncology at the Tufts-New England Medical Center where he conducted laboratory research in leukemias, myeloma and myelodysplasia, as well as fellowship in pharmacology and molecular genetics at the Dana-Farber Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Shepard holds academic appointments at Harvard University, Tufts University and the University of Virginia.

Sandra Silberman, MD, PhD

Chief Medical Officer - New Products

Dr. Silberman's career in clinical development began at Pfizer, Inc., where she oversaw the initiation of Tarceva™ clinical trials. She then led the global development of Gleevec® at Novartis. Sandra was the first Vice President and Global Therapeutic Area Head in Oncology at Eisai, a role in which she advanced five original compounds into Phases I through III, gaining the first approval for Eisai's proprietary drug, Halavan®. Subsequently, she served as a senior advisor to a number of biopharmaceutical companies, including Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, Imclone, Roche, and numerous biotech companies as an independent industry consultant. She joined Quintiles in 2009 as the Vice President of Oncology and Global Head of Translational Medicine in the newly formed Innovation division, overseeing drug development and novel technologies for new partnerships with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Sandra earned her B.A., Sc.M. and Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Arts and Sciences, School of Public Health and School of Medicine, respectively. Her major focus of investigation and doctoral thesis was in the burgeoning area of tumor immunology. She received her M.D. from Cornell University Medical College, completing a postdoctoral training and her fellowship in hematology/oncology at the Brigham & Women's and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. She continued to do research in tumor immunology with a clinical investigator award from the NIH and became an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She then served as an attending physician at Yale University Hospital. Sandra has continued in clinical practice throughout her career in industry, and is currently an attending physician in the Hematology/Oncology clinic at the Duke VA in Durham, NC.

Jonathan P. Foster

Chief Financial Officer

During his career, Mr. Foster has raised close to a half billion dollars in public, private and debt financing for companies and reversed financial inefficiencies while accelerating growth to deliver millions of dollars in EBITDA.

At InfuSystem Holdings, Inc., Mr. Foster joined in early 2012 during an Activist takeover and served through multiple subsequent Board and CEO transitions. While working in a close team environment, Mr. Foster led the implementation of accounting, budgeting, corrections of material weaknesses, improvements in internal control and cash control discipline, investigations of strategic alternatives and execution on multiple refinancings. Such actions resulted in revenue growth and a return to profitability. From March 2012 to March 2016, InfuSystem lowered its effective interest rate on its debt from over 18% to under 3% and increased its Enterprise Value by over 50%.

Prior to InfuSystem, Mr. Foster served as a consultant to the Chief Financial Officer of LSG Sky Chefs, USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG and the world's largest provider of airline catering and in-flight services. Prior to that, from 2000-2012, he was President, CFO and majority owner of United Credit, Inc. & Advance Today, Inc., a privately owned consumer finance company with multiple locations. During his time there, Mr. Foster successfully doubled revenue, tripled the firm's loan base and strengthened business operations and profitability.

From 1996-2000, Mr. Foster served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Drypers Corporation, a publicly traded global consumer products company with more than 2,000 employees internationally and $460 million in revenue, where he worked alongside Moleculin's Chairman and Acting CEO, Walter Klemp.

He previously served as Chief Financial Officer of Dickson Weatherproof Nail Company, Controller & Treasurer of divisions of Schlumberger Industries, and as a Manager in the Middle Market Group of Deloitte & Touche. He has also served on the State of South Carolina Board of Financial Institutions and the Board of Directors for the Easley Baptist Hospital Foundation.

Mr. Foster has a BS in Accounting from Clemson University, is a Certified Public Accountant and AICPA Chartered Global Management Accountant.